For Megan Boken (23) and Emilie Parker (6) by Hilary Korabik

Emilie Parker (6)

Megan Boken (23)

Here’s a poem I wrote for Megan Boken, a Saint Louis University graduate who was killed this summer while visiting St. Louis and for Emilie Parker, one of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting.

 Contagious:

“her laugh, her laugh her laugh.”

In my heart I am holding your souls,

and I can feel you holding me back.

We are all blue-eyed blondes

with distinct laughs.

Now you two are angels, and I can feel

the flutter of your laughter echoing

my heartbeat.

Milan Kundera writes:

“The two sisters stretched out on their bed are not laughing

at anything concrete,

their laughter has no object;

it is an expression of being, rejoicing at being.”

You are still being, beating

in our hearts and in our memories;

your laughter is a whisper,

a reminder to ‘rejoice at being,’

for we never know how long we shall ‘be’ here.

In August and December I could feel

my heart hanging on a string,

the only thing holding it together was

your laughter.

Laughter and tears are lovers

who cannot bear to be left alone for too long;

today we are crying and in a few

we will laugh, because just as laughter

brings tears, tears inevitably

remind us to rejoice at our being,

to laugh, laugh, laugh.

A little love goes a long way.

My mom has terms of endearment for all her children. Tom is her sweet love because he came home on Valentine's Day. Chris is her precious love. I am her little love. When I was growing up, I felt like my name wasn't as special, but today I am thinking about how a little love can go a long way.

Many times I feel, though I have no children, that I am a mother in this world. I am a mother to everyone I love, in some way or another. The shootings in Connecticut today have brought out that feeling of tenderness and love that I so often feel. In the love that I give and the works that I create, I am a mother. Today, those feelings are magnified and I can feel myself holding close the children I will someday have, whether they be my own biological children, my own adopted children, the children of my brothers, or the children of my friends. And at this time, I can feel my heart holding all the children who were killed today.

Mother Teresa once said, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." We all belong to each other. We need to hold each other close, to tell people that we love them, to show people that we love them, and to remember that we have to love each other not only in spite of, but also because of our differences. Today I am praying that we, in our shared humanity, will be able to come together and give what love we have, to remember that we belong to each other, to remember that if ever the humanity of one person is diminished, then the humanity of everyone is diminished.

I have two videos to share. One is President Barack Obama's address regarding the Newtown, Connecticut Shooting. The other is of spoken-word poet Andrea Gibson, performing her poem "Birthday." We all need to recognize the humanity in each other. I hope that today and every day we can hold each other close and love each other for who we all are.